John W. Burgess


I, John William Burgess, am not only a blacksmith and a political scientist, but also, an educator. I have fought in the Civil War for the Union. I was the most influenced when studying German Universities and I sought to better American-German relations. Later, I was I was appointed a professor, until my retirement, at a law school, which later became Columbia University. There, I taught constitutional law and founded the study of disciplined political science and the Political Science Quarterly.

Throughout the annexation of the Philippines, I wondered if the timing was right. I was indeed against the annexation. I felt as if we had more important things to worry about here in the United States, than to worry and put our time and effort in to another country. I even stated "So long as we do not inhabit two-thirds of the territory on this continent; so long as we have not explored, much less exploited, its resources; so long as we remain in large measure a mixed population of Americans, Europeans and Africans;…so long as we have an Indian problem and a Mormon problem and a negro problem, to say nothing of many less important questions—so long, it seems to me, we should more nearly follow the natural order of things, if we should remain at home and attend to our own domestic affairs."

I was most interested in this topic due to my study of political science. I studied many foreign affairs, yes mainly with Germany, but the topic of the Philippines came up. I am completely against imperialism in the Philippines and I became involved and feel that it will take away from the focus of issues within the United States.




"The Foundations of Political Science -." Google Books. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. <http://books.google.com/books?id=ku9nLjF6kw4C&pg=PR36&lpg=PR36&dq=john+w+burgess+political+science+%2B+philippines&sour
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2qTAAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=
false>.

"The Influence of John Burgess on the Political Thought of Theodore Roosevelt by Jean Yarbrough." All Academic

Inc. (Abstract Management, Conference Management and Research Search Engine). Web. 30 Mar. 2010. <http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/4/3/8/5/p143857_index.html>."John William Burgess Facts, Information, Pictures | Encyclopedia.com Articles about John William Burgess." Encyclopedia - Online Dictionary | Encyclopedia.com: Get Facts, Articles, Pictures, Video. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. <http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/John_William_Burgess.aspx>.